Hi friends!! School starts here this week and I got Anton some book covers and name stickers for his new books, as well as some other stationary items. It reminded me of how much I used to love to sit and cover my books with paper or plastic and pick which stickers I was going to use for each book. It doesn't surprise me that I loved this, both the fun decorating part and all the possibilities that were in between the pages of a new book. I still feel the same every time I get a new book.
This week our theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge book is Artist Trading Cards. ATC's are such a fun format and if you have never tried one, I hope you will. If you don't want to make an ordinary ATC, you can also fold a piece of cardstock and turn it into a card, or use as embellishment on another project. ATC's are 2.5 x 3.5 in. As always, don't miss the wonderful project of our August guest designer, Simo with her blog Ginny and the Sheep.
And a reminder not to miss the Simon Says Stamp Summer Vacation Kid's Challenge. Anton will post something he made later this week.
When I was thinking of what to do, I happened to see the plastic packaging of Tim Holtz's Star Fasteners on my desk. I measured and saw that it was almost the exact right size and decided to use it for my ATC. About a year ago, I did a Recycled Time Tag using Sprocket Gears packaging, which is a little similar to this.
I die cut an ATC card using Tim's ATC & Corners die (you can also cut your own), and then covered it with phrases from the Clippings Stickers. I picked some phrases out as main sentiments, and picked others that fit with them. After adhering them to the card, I coated them with Clear Gesso.
The Clear Gesso gives great tooth for Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks. Scribble different colors over the phrases, leaving some uncolored. Turn the pigment into watercolor with a paint brush and some water.
When dry, draw with a Black Soot Marker in between the phrases, and again, dissolve some of that with water and a paint brush.
Randomly stamp dots on the background with Versamark ink and white emboss. I also white embossed a very thin border around the card.
Apply gesso to some metal embellishments with your finger, making sure to get an uneven coat.
When dry, paint with Distress Paints for a textured look.
I stamped the circles with three different stamps. Under this bird circle, there is a gadget gear. I also flattened and stapled a Tag Press Ring around it.
The top circle was stamped with a compass and I added a small gear and a game spinner in the center.
The third circle was stamped with a clock, and underneath it you will find another sprocket gear, as well as a Mirrored Heart.
The painted metal pieces have a pretty cool texture.
It is hard to capture the dimension of this ATC, created by the packaging overlay. The packaging was stapled to the background, after having glued the elements underneath the circles.
I use my ATCs in about the same way as I do tags, both for quick inspiration and displayed as a home decor item. Most of them hang at the top level of my Tim Holtz Clip Carousel. I've added lots more ATCs and tags since this photo was taken and my Carousel is pretty full.
If you want more ATC inspiration, check out these projects of mine: Quick Gift Card Set, Mixed Media Envelopes and ATC cards, Distressed Travel ATCs, Stamp without Ink, Dotty Gel Print ATC book, Love ATC Box.
I hope you will join us this week in our Artist Trading Card challenge. As always, you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.
Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.
Thank you for stopping by today!
Happy crafting!
Anna-Karin
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